    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 9, 2004]
    [Pages 2428-2429]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    October 9, 2004

        Good morning. As your President, I have led this country with
    principle and resolve. We have confronted historic challenges and built
    a broad record of accomplishment. I have proposed and delivered four
    rounds of tax relief, and our economy is creating jobs again. We have
    added over 1.9 million jobs in the past 13 months, more than Germany,
    Japan, Great Britain, Canada, and France combined. The unemployment rate
    is 5.4 percent, lower than the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and
    1990s. Thanks to our education reforms, math and reading scores are
    increasing in public schools. We have strengthened Medicare to help low-
    income seniors save money on their medicine. And soon every senior will
    have the option of prescription drug coverage.
        We have more to do. We will transform our systems of Government to
    fit a changing world and to help more people realize the American Dream.
    We will expand health savings accounts and improve Social Security to
    allow younger workers to own a piece of their retirement. Because
    education is vital to our prosperity, we will raise expectations in
    public schools and invest in community colleges. And to make sure
    America is the best place in the world to do business and create jobs,
    we will cut regulations, end junk lawsuits, pass a sound energy policy,
    and make tax relief permanent.
        Senator Kerry takes a very different
    approach to our economy. He was named the most liberal Member of the
    United States Senate, and that's a title he has earned. Over the past 20
    years, Senator Kerry has voted to raise taxes 98 times. He opposed all
    our tax relief and voted instead to squeeze an extra $2,000 in taxes
    from the average middle-class family. Now he's running on an agenda of
    higher taxes and higher spending and more Government control over
    American life. My opponent wants to

    [[Page 2429]]

    empower Government. I want to use Government to empower people.
        Since September the 11th, 2001, I have led a global campaign to
    protect the American people and bring our enemies to account. We have
    tripled spending on homeland security and passed the PATRIOT Act to help
    law enforcement and intelligence stop terrorists inside the United
    States. We removed terror regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now both
    nations are on the path to democracy. We shut down a black-market
    supplier of deadly weapons technology and convinced Libya to give up its
    weapons of mass destruction programs. And more than three-quarters of Al
    Qaida's key members and associates have been detained or killed.
        In the middle of a war, Senator Kerry is
    proposing policies and doctrines that would weaken America and make the
    world more dangerous. He's proposed the Kerry doctrine, which would
    paralyze America by subjecting our national security decisions to a
    ``global test.'' He supports the International Criminal Court, where
    unaccountable foreign prosecutors could put American troops on trial in
    front of foreign judges. And after voting to send our troops into combat
    in Afghanistan and Iraq, he voted against the body armor and bullets
    they need to win.
        For all of Senator Kerry's shifting
    positions on Iraq, one thing is clear: If my opponent had his way,
    Saddam Hussein would be sitting in a palace today, not a prison, and
    Iraq would still be a danger to America. As chief weapons inspector
    Charles Duelfer testified this week, and
    I quote, ``Most senior members of the Saddam Hussein regime and scientists assumed that the programs would
    begin in earnest when sanctions ended, and sanctions were eroding.''
    Instead, because our coalition acted, Iraq is free; America is safer;
    and the world will be more peaceful for our children and our
    grandchildren.
        I will keep this Nation on the offensive against terrorists, with
    the goal of total victory. I will keep our economy moving so every
    worker has a good job, quality health care, and a secure retirement.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 10:20 a.m. on October 8 at a private
    residence in St. Louis, MO, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 9.
    The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on October 8 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his
    remarks, the President referred to Charles Duelfer, Special Advisor to
    the Director of Central Intelligence. The Office of the Press Secretary
    also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.